


That's Not Dad

by ncdover1285



Series: Swan Song Bingo 2019 [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: #swansongbingo, Alive Mary Winchester, Alternate Canon, Bobby is Mary's Brother, Demonic Possession, F/M, Lawyer Sam Winchester, Mechanic Dean Winchester, Mechanic John Winchester, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-02-26 18:31:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18722590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ncdover1285/pseuds/ncdover1285
Summary: Prompt from Tumblr: That's Not Dad! Write a short story where a young character returns home from school to find that their father has been replaced with... a monster. The catch? Only this character notices.Sam has been away at school and comes back home to Lawrence to open his own law firm. He notices that his dad is acting different and catches his eyes flashing all black. When he tells his brother he doesn’t believe him, that is until Dean sees the eyes flash for himself. This leads the boys to finding a network of people who hunt things like the thing in their dad.For Swan Song Bingo Block S1: Demonic Possession.





	That's Not Dad

**Author's Note:**

> Title: That’s Not Dad  
> Square Filled: S1: Demonic Possession  
> Rating: General  
> Warnings: None Apply  
> Ships: Mary Winchester/ John Winchester  
> Summary: Sam has been away at school and comes back home to Lawrence to open his own law firm. He notices that his dad is acting different and catches his eyes flashing all black. When he tells his brother he doesn’t believe him, that is until Dean sees the eyes flash for himself. This leads the boys to finding a network of people who hunt things like the thing in their dad.  
> Word Count:3300  
> Created For: @swansongbingo  
> Tags: #swansongbingo, #alternatecanon, #mechanic!John, #mechanic!Dean, #lawyer!Sam, #demon!John

Sam lives in Lawrence Kansas with his brother Dean and their parents live in the house across the street. He’s been away at school the last few years, becoming a lawyer. Stanford wasn’t easy, but Sam is extremely intelligent and works really hard, so he had made it. Coming back to Lawrence and crashing on his big brother’s couch was harder than school had ever tried to be. Dean was more than happy for his little brother to be home and didn’t mind sharing his home until Sam could find a place of his own. He understood how hard it was to start your own business and imagined it would be even harder with a law firm, so having Sam crash on his couch for the foreseeable future really didn’t bother Dean at all. 

Getting together has always been a big deal for the Winchester’s, family is everything and they use any excuse they can find to have a big cookout or family dinner. Sam actually being home on his birthday was just what they needed to go all out for huge family cookout. Sam just didn’t think so, he wasn’t really what you would call a people person. He didn’t mind hanging out with his family, but the entire neighborhood had been invited and that was enough to have Sam looking for a place to hide. Going into the garage, he found his dad tinkering on his impala. “Hey dad, figured you’d be out there talking to Jimmy about his car. What you doing in here?” John came out from under the hood, and no matter how clean they kept the car, he was covered in grease up to his elbows. “Just doing a tune up, me and Dean have put in so many hours at the shop in the last week that neither of us have really had a chance to do it yet. I’ll be out in a few minutes.” As Sam was starting to leave he heard a noise that caused his attention to go back to his father. His dad had knocked over one of the buckets that they soaked car parts in and an alternator had fallen on his foot. His dad hissed out and Sam could have sworn that his eyes went all black. He rushed over to his dad asking if he was okay. When John confirmed that he was fine and it had just grazed the side Sam convinced him to join him at the party before Mary came looking for them.

Sam didn’t think any more about his dad’s eyes, figuring that he had just been seeing things. Growing up, the Winchesters attended church every Sunday, momma’s orders, but Sam noticed that when he and Dean arrived at the church that Mary was already seated. Their father was nowhere to be seen and she didn’t look as if she was expecting him. “Dean, where’s dad?” “He hasn’t been coming in a while, something about the holy water giving him a rash, I don’t know I think he just got tired of coming.” Sam couldn’t believe Dean’s reason and couldn’t honestly see how Dean believed it himself. He let it go though, choosing not to start an argument at church. He sat through mass thinking about his father and some of the strange things that he had noticed since returning home from school. First was the flash of his dad’s eyes. Then there was the fact that he didn’t seem to be eating much, only pushing food around on his plate at dinner. He didn’t attend mass with his mother anymore and that was always a big thing for both of his parents. This was something that he would need to talk to Dean about, he couldn’t figure out what could have happened in the time that he had been gone, but Dean would know.

“You’re crazy, Sam! Nothing is wrong with Dad, why do you always have to find something wrong with him, always gotta fight?” Okay so maybe talking to Dean wasn’t the best idea, Sam had forgotten how Dean always idolized their father. At least, Dean now knew that Sam thought something was wrong and whether he agreed or not he would pay attention. Surely he would notice whatever was going on. Sam would just have to keep an eye out and look out for his stubborn brother for a change.

“Sam, we need to talk.” Dean stubbornly walked past Sam after making his statement and continued out to the back porch. Sam got up from his computer and followed his brother out the door. “I saw something, dad’s eyes, they did this thing. It was like there was no color, no whites, nothing. It looked like open pits in his eyes. I think you’re right, something’s wrong with dad.” Sam looked up at his brother, surprised he had noticed this fast. It had only been a few days since their talk and if Dean hadn’t noticed before then Sam figured it would take a while. Dean must have thought something was wrong too or he wouldn’t have been paying that close of attention. “Okay I have been looking on the internet and I’ve found a few things but I want to talk to someone. Uncle Bobby always had those freaky books at his house, if those sites are even close to right I think he may know what’s going on.” Sam had his phone in his hand before he even finished his statement to his brother, which didn’t give Dean any time to ask what Sam had found online. This was intentional, Sam didn’t think that Dean would believe him and he needed him on his side for this phone call. 

“Hey Bobby, Dean and I need to talk to you. If he can get away from the shop for a few days do you think we could come up?” Dean looked at Sam with a little suspicion now but nodded anyway that he could take the time off. “Awesome, he just said that he could. It’ll take us until tomorrow night to get there. Okay, I’ll tell you all about it when we get there. Thanks, see you then.” Sam hung up the phone and turned back to his brother. “So what’s going on? Why do we have to drive to Sioux Falls?” “I don’t think that thing is our dad. I think it’s a demon, at least that’s what I’ve found online and I want to make sure mom is safe. So the faster we know something the faster we get it away from her.” Dean just looked at his brother and mumbled something about sure hoping that he’s wrong before going up to pack his bag and to call Benny to cover the shop for the next few days.

They got to Bobby’s house late the next evening. He greeted both boys with a warm hug and an affectionate slap on the back. “What are you two idjits into now?” “Oh you know same old same old, well, other than Sammy here thinking dad’s a demon” Dean had been harrassing Sam for his thoughts the whole drive and the comment was a throw away statement, but Bobby’s reaction made him rethink his attitude. He stopped dead in his tracks and looked at Dean questioningly then up at Sam. “Why do you think that? Better yet, where did you hear about demons?” Sam looked down to his feet, “I remember reading some of your books when we would come up as kids, then when I looked online I found a few things.” “Well come on in off the porch, I think this is gonna call for a drink.” The boys followed Bobby into the house and sat at the table, the only surface not covered by books and papers. “Uh, Bobby, just curious why you aren’t saying that we’re crazy and sending us on our way?” Dean had a way of cutting right to point when he was nervous. 

“Well boys, I promised your mom that I’d keep you out of this stuff if I could at all. Seeing as you came to me with it I guess that wouldn’t be me breaking that promise, though she should already know what’s going on if it really is a demon. Tell me what’s happened and why you think that and I’ll go from there.” Sam listed off all of the symptoms that he had told Dean and then researched. He also told Bobby where he had found the research online. Bobby sat there for a minute looking at the papers that Sam had brought with him, his research that he had printed off. “Well, not sure what’s going on with your mom, but it sounds like your daddy’s been possessed.” “Why would our mom know that he was possessed and we wouldn’t?” Dean had to ask, because it’s been driving him crazy the whole time that Sam was explaining it to Bobby. “Because she comes from a family of hunters boy, that’s why. She didn’t want you two to grow up the same way that she did, that’s why she married John and completely stepped away. Your grandpa and grandma were hunters, and I carried on the family business since Mary wanted out. When I got too old to be thrown around I started collecting lore books and take calls for other hunters.” Sam’s face lit up at the mention of the books, but Dean just looked like he wanted to call him crazy. “Here, I got something for you to take a look at, all the stories that I used to tell that you all thought were just made up, well they ain’t. Just take a look through this and then we can talk some more. I gotta make a call.” With that he handed them a thick leather bound journal that had pictures and news clippings and entries about different kinds of monsters.

When Bobby came back from making his phone calls the boys had looked through the book and made their way back to the demon page and were reading over it. “Called Caleb, he’s pretty close to your place, he was hunting a ghost on some highway outside of Topeka and is going to meet us at your house.” “Caleb knew all this was real too?” Dean just couldn’t understand how so many people he knew could know about this and not mention it to him or Sam. Caleb was a friend of the whole family and Dean had no idea that he was a hunter of all things supernatural. “Yeah boy and so is Pastor Jim and Ellen, although I think she has kept Jo out of it as much as she can. She hasn’t been hunting on her own in a while, just finds cases for others, like I do. It really is a crappy way to grow up and if they could keep you kids out of it and safe for as long as possible I don’t see anything wrong with that.” Dean huffed but stood up from the table. “Caleb meeting us in the morning or do we have time to sleep. We just had a hell of a drive and if I can get a few hours it’ll be a lot easier getting back.” “Tomorrow evening, he has to finish up his hunt tonight and catch a few hours himself. So go see if you can get some sleep and we’ll head out early in the morning.” Sam stood also and they headed up the stairs to the room they used to share when they would come over as kids. “Night Bobby.” Sam said as he topped the stairs, he had been silent after finding out about what was really out there.

“How can you take this so easy? I feel like I’m losing my mind!” Dean said as they entered the room. “I don’t know, I’ve always thought there was more out there. It’s just validation for me I guess. I’m glad that I didn’t know when I was younger, I probably wouldn’t have finished school and would have been out there just like Caleb. Now, I’m just curious, I want to look through all Bobby’s books again now that I know it’s real, but I don’t feel like I have to go see everything that’s in them.” “Huh, I didn’t think of it that way. You were always making up stories of your own. I figured they were from the books. I could see you running off when you were a teenager to find something just to prove it was real. I guess I’m glad I didn’t know too. I don’t know what I would have done if something happened to you while you were out there exploring.” “Night Jerk!” “Night Bitch!” After their friendly banter both boys fell asleep dreaming of werewolves and wendigos. 

Morning came quickly and the trip back to Lawrence flew by. Bobby rode with them and told stories from some of the hunts that he had been on and both boys asked enough questions that there was conversation the whole way. Pulling into his driveway, Dean spotted Caleb’s truck across the road. “Guess he beat us here. He knows where the spare key is he’s probably inside.” They all three climb out of the car and head into the house to find Caleb sitting on the couch talking to Mary. “Mom?” Both brothers call out to her at the same time and she looks up at them, then turns to Bobby. “We could have handled this, you didn’t have to involve them.” “Easy Mary, they came to me, they already knew what was going on and were only looking for confirmation. This is on you for letting it go on this long and I think you need to let the boys know why. They deserve to know what will happen when we exorcise this demon.” After saying his piece Bobby and Caleb left the room so Mary could talk to her sons alone. “So, guess you guys are pretty upset at me huh?” They had a surprised look but quickly assured her that no they were not upset, confused yes, but not upset. “Mom, what was Bobby talking about? What’s gonna happen when they exorcise the demon?” 

“Sam, you were always too smart for your own good, I’m pretty sure you’ve already figured that out, especially if you figured out it was a demon in the first place. The demon took possession of your father a few months ago. It tried to integrate into our everyday lives so it continued at the shop. When I figured out what was going on I tried to trap it and one of the motors that John had been working on was hanging in the shop. It fell on him, so the only reason he is still alive is because the demon is still possessing him. The demon asked that I not help any hunters that came to me for information on cases involving demons and in return that he would continue to possess your dad. Demons can heal, it just takes a really long time for them to do it. I was trying to let him finish before I caught him and exorcised it.” “Has it been long enough?” Dean interrupting the silence after Mary’s statement brought both of their attention to him. He was always the closest of the two boys to their dad and it didn’t surprise either of them that he was the one to ask this question. “I don’t know.” It was the only answer that Mary had and she knew it was a crappy one. “Either way, we can’t let it just keep on possessing him. Who knows what it’s doing when you’re sleeping or away from it at all.” Bobby and Caleb returned in time to catch the end of Sam’s statement and they agreed with him. So together they set a plan to catch the demon and exorcise it. 

Dean asked his dad to come help him with a problem he was having in his own garage with a car that he was working on for a friend. Caleb had drawn a demon trap on the floor and covered it with a tarp, now all that they needed to do was get it inside the trap and according to their mom it wouldn’t be able to get out. Caleb would be waiting around the back of the house with his truck so that when they were done, if need be, he could rush John to the hospital. Mary and Sam had been working on the exorcism, she said that if they were going to do this then someone other than her would need to know how and since the demon had been avoiding Bobby if he saw him it would give it away. Dean managed to get it into the trap by parking the car at the edge and when they bent over to look under the hood it was in the center of it. Dean went to crank the car and quickly pulled it away from the demon so it wouldn’t be able to do anymore damage to his father’s body. The demon knew at once it was trapped and started yelling for Mary. When her and Sam came out it started yelling about deals and that she was killing her husband. 

Mary wouldn’t be able to do the exorcism, but she expected this and that was why Sam was the backup. He started reciting the Latin and the demon quickly turned on him, but Mary was able to draw his attention back to her and Sam continued. When the demon once again went to Sam he stumble on the line and Mary picked up where he had left off. Together they were able to complete the exorcism and send the demon back to hell. They helped John to the couch in the garage, noting that he was still having trouble breathing and that he couldn’t stand on his own. Sam went to get Caleb and Bobby and Dean went to his father. “We’re gonna get you to the hospital. Just tell them that something slipped and fell on you from the wench. If you tell them about the demon they will just lock you up in a psych ward.” John nodded at his oldest son and then turned to his wife. “Mary, we really need to talk about some things. Not now because I really do feel like a truck fell on me, but soon. I understand, but there are a few things that we need to work out. I need to know what you know and how to stop this from happening again. Well, there’s more than that but here comes Sam and I’m guessing my ride. Meet us there?” While looking upset because she didn’t want to lose her family because she had been trying to keep them safe, Mary simply nodded her head and went to get her car from her own house. 

“Boys, you did a good job back there. Samuel and Deanna would be proud. They never understood why your mom didn’t want to be a hunter, but they still loved you boys. I’ll get your dad to the hospital and Caleb will take me home. I’d give your mom and dad some time to talk, if they don’t drug him up too bad. Wait until tomorrow to go up there and call me if you need something I imagine Sam here will be wanting to look through my books. I’ll be expecting to hear from you sooner than later.” Then with a shoulder slap for each he left the garage to help Caleb get John into the truck.


End file.
